Last night’s episode of Question Time saw David Dimbleby joined in Stoke-on-Trent by Sajid Javid, Lucy Powell, Ukip’s Paul Nuttall, the Sun‘s managing editor Stig Abell and Paris Lees, the transgender rights activist. With Jeremy Corbyn the main topic on the agenda following the Sun‘s story this week claiming Corbyn failed to bow deeply enough at the Remembrance Sunday service at Whitehall, would Corbyn’s supporters prove to all the merits of a new ‘kinder’ politics?
At first, it looked like Corbyn’s call to ‘treat people with respect’ and with no ‘rudeness’ may have been taken on board, as even Javid seemed keen to take part in the new regime. Discussing the leader of the opposition, the business secretary said that Corbyn was a ‘respectful’ man:
‘There’s a lot of things that I don’t like about Jeremy Corbyn’s views, but the bow in question — I think it was absolutely fine. I saw the bow, I didn’t think there was any problem with it at all.’
However, as Lees rushed to her own defence of Corbyn — describing him as a really nice man who just wants peace, she couldn’t help but take a swipe at Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, calling them both ‘nutters’:
‘Let’s face it, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, we’ve had some right nutters running the country over the years haven’t we?’
As Powell accused Abell and his colleagues at the Sun of being the people who really disrespected the veterans with their Corbyn splash, the audience swiftly turned on the Sun employee. Abell protested that rather than bullying Corbyn, the tabloid simply reported concerns from Labour MPs.
His explanation was not well-received by the audience, as one woman called him ‘disingenuous’, while another accused him of knowing no respect given that they had run a photo of a ‘scantily dressed woman’ next to the original story. As a man told Abell off for treating Corbyn in a horrible way, he attempted to reply:
https://twitter.com/GraemeDemianyk/status/664957478614999040
Alas he was promptly told to ‘shut up’ by the audience member. A new politics maybe, but not a particularly kind one.
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